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Gospel Reading for November 04, 2025 – Luke 14: 15-24
NOT AUTOMATIC
One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'”
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Although it is the desire of the Father that all of us are saved through his Son, Jesus, SALVATION IS NOT AUTOMATIC. The decisions we make each day will determine if we will be saved or not. Take for example those of us who are baptized Christians but live a life bereft of the teachings of Christ and not following the commandments of love for God and neighbor, how can we be saved? Likewise, we cannot claim that as long as we accept Jesus as our personal saviour, we will be saved. Accepting Jesus as our personal saviour should mean that we accept and practice his teachings in our daily life. Only then, can we be saved.
All of us are invited to the heavenly banquet, but if we make all the excuses and alibi not to take part in it, then we will not be part of it. It will be our loss.
Lord, we thank you for your invite to the heavenly banquet. May we always be found worthy to take part in it!
